Private Options for Kid with ADHD / low screen use

[Anonymous]

We are looking for an option for our DS with ADHD who is currently struggling at MCPS.

Main thing we need is a low screen environment- he just plus games all day at MCPS on a Chromebook.

We need a school that is understanding and accommodating of his ADHD and offers a nurturing Low pressure environment where he can thrive academically.

He is hi IQ and advanced ability. He just needs someone to engage with him and not leave him on screens through out the day.

Lots of outdoor time and green space would be great.

Any tips on finding this “special” school- websites, advisors/ consultants etc?

[Anonymous]

OP Looking for 6th grade through HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Looking for 6th grade through HS

How far are you willing to commute? The Sycamore School in Rosslyn (5-12) punches all of your buttons there; they keep students off screens except for work projects then use the Senso monitoring system to make sure the Chromebooks are not used for games. Cell phones are checked at the door in the morning. Your DC is not the first kid to go down the screentime rabbit hole and need pulling out.

Small class sizes ensure that all students are watched throughout the day (including lunch when no computer access is allowed except monitored study hall).

TSS has a virtual info session August 6 if you are interested. Admissions are open and rolling. Check their website.

[Anonymous]

Templeton might be a good fit. It's project based and exploratory, so might keep him more engaged.

[Anonymous]

So sick of schools putting kids on devices all day. Good luck, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Looking for 6th grade through HS

Edmund Burke

[Anonymous]

I think most private schools limit the screens.

[Anonymous]

Washington Waldorf School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP Looking for 6th grade through HS

Edmund Burke

or Field

[Anonymous]

Let us know what you find. Most private have parents who think screentime in school is preparing the kids for AI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let us know what you find. Most private have parents who think screentime in school is preparing the kids for AI.

AI was barely a thing 18 months ago so I don't know how this could be true/representative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let us know what you find. Most private have parents who think screentime in school is preparing the kids for AI.

There are plenty of legitimate uses of tech in moderation that have nothing to do with AI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let us know what you find. Most private have parents who think screentime in school is preparing the kids for AI.

There are plenty of legitimate uses of tech in moderation that have nothing to do with AI.

The "screentime" debate has devolved so far that the real role of tech in the classroom gets reduced to a simple "Screen bad, book good" when kids and adults alike use technology throughout the day every day of their lives.

Teachers have to make sure kids can use that technology effectively for researching and writing on their own. The idea that reading a physical book and writing by hand is going to make your kid a super whiz to function in the modern world is an ideological stance, not a practical one. No one at their future employers staff meeting will be there without a laptop, and their boss won't want work submitted on paper. They won't be sourcing and evaluating much printed info either.

It will all be on a screen.

At the same time, you have to keep kids out of the games/YouTube/TikTok rabbit hole that just sucks their brains into the entertainment dimension.

Good privates with small classes work hard to find that balance. Bigger schools will struggle mightily. Teachers just can't track what 100s of kids do all day.

That's the reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let us know what you find. Most private have parents who think screentime in school is preparing the kids for AI.

There are plenty of legitimate uses of tech in moderation that have nothing to do with AI.

The "screentime" debate has devolved so far that the real role of tech in the classroom gets reduced to a simple "Screen bad, book good" when kids and adults alike use technology throughout the day every day of their lives.

Teachers have to make sure kids can use that technology effectively for researching and writing on their own. The idea that reading a physical book and writing by hand is going to make your kid a super whiz to function in the modern world is an ideological stance, not a practical one. No one at their future employers staff meeting will be there without a laptop, and their boss won't want work submitted on paper. They won't be sourcing and evaluating much printed info either.

It will all be on a screen.

At the same time, you have to keep kids out of the games/YouTube/TikTok rabbit hole that just sucks their brains into the entertainment dimension.

Good privates with small classes work hard to find that balance. Bigger schools will struggle mightily. Teachers just can't track what 100s of kids do all day.

That's the reality.

The research and computer-based program elements can all be developed in high school. All students would benefit from a few more years of pen in hand fully K-8. Not one student is hurt by low / no tech. However many, many are hurt by tech in place of pencil / paper / book learning. Tech in the lower grades hurts the lower- and middle-class students the most and of course, a good percent of boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let us know what you find. Most private have parents who think screentime in school is preparing the kids for AI.

There are plenty of legitimate uses of tech in moderation that have nothing to do with AI.

The "screentime" debate has devolved so far that the real role of tech in the classroom gets reduced to a simple "Screen bad, book good" when kids and adults alike use technology throughout the day every day of their lives.

Teachers have to make sure kids can use that technology effectively for researching and writing on their own. The idea that reading a physical book and writing by hand is going to make your kid a super whiz to function in the modern world is an ideological stance, not a practical one. No one at their future employers staff meeting will be there without a laptop, and their boss won't want work submitted on paper. They won't be sourcing and evaluating much printed info either.

It will all be on a screen.

At the same time, you have to keep kids out of the games/YouTube/TikTok rabbit hole that just sucks their brains into the entertainment dimension.

Good privates with small classes work hard to find that balance. Bigger schools will struggle mightily. Teachers just can't track what 100s of kids do all day.

That's the reality.

We had paper and then learned to sue tech as adults. It’s reasonable t want the same for our kids.

And sorry, but using a Chromebook is so easy a Ker can do it, so it’s not like they need years to practice.